This invention generally relates to calculators and computing devices that employ menus and, more particularly, to the presentation of menu displays that define the functions of keys.
Prior calculators and portable computers such as the Hewlett-Packard 19B and 28S have employed menu displays that dynamically define the functions of an adjacent set or row of keys. The menu display typically includes a number of menu choices or labels that define functions. Each menu label is displayed in a label field aligned with an underlying key. When a menu is selected and the menu labels displayed, the keys within the adjacent row are redefined to match the functions of the aligned menu labels. Pressing a matched key then executes the label function.
The required alignment of the label field with the matched key, however, places an undesirable constraint on the length and location of the field. So as not to confuse the user, the field must not overlap several keys. But such a short field severely limits the number of characters that can describe the function. In prior devices that have ignored this limitation and have overlapped keys, the user often must count the number of fields from the display edge to determine the matched key.
The present invention removes this constraint on the size and location of the label field and yet clearly communicates to the user the key matched to the label.